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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27590729">Smoke and Mirrors</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azei/pseuds/Azei'>Azei</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Ghost of Eleanor Fryth [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Arranged Marriage, Brutal Murder, Canon-Typical Violence, Dysfunctional Family, F/F, F/M, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Ghosts, Grief/Mourning, Hatred, Male-Female Friendship, Married Friends, Murder, Romance, Secrets, Tragic Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:27:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,115</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27590729</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azei/pseuds/Azei</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Narcissa Black is the perfect pureblood. All one could want of a daughter from a noble house such as the Blacks; not like Bellatrix whose a little too wand-happy nor poor, poor Andromeda who ran away in disgrace. </p><p>But not all is as it seems behind closed doors. </p><p>OR</p><p>A TikTok inspires me to write the lesbian romance that Narcissa definitely had at Hogwarts that was ruined because Voldemort ruins everything fun.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bellatrix Black Lestrange &amp; Narcissa Black Malfoy, Bellatrix Black Lestrange &amp; Narcissa Black Malfoy &amp; Andromeda Black Tonks, Lucius Malfoy &amp; Narcissa Black Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy/Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Ghost of Eleanor Fryth [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017081</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Smoke and Mirrors</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40leviackermansdetergentt">@leviackermansdetergentt</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>There I was, scrolling through TikTok and ignoring my homework, as one does, when I come across a TikTok that would make me open up a new tab and post this work. Who could resist Narcissa Malfoy's gay/lesbian/queer romance from her Hogwarts days and the fall down when Voldemort rises to power and Bellatrix gets a little too trigger happy with her wand? I can't. That's why I'm writing this. </p><p>The TikTok creator who made this used they/them pronouns for the OC which I'm guessing is to allow any of us to imagine the gender(or non-binary) of the lover. Imma goes with a lesbian because honestly Narcissa being a raging bisexual and having a lesbian romance through most if not all of her Hogwarts years in my headcanon. Like that woman definitely pegs her husband okay? No way she didn't have this romance. </p><p>The idea was inspired by the awesome @leviackermansdetergentt over on TikTok; keep slaying queen!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Narcissa Black never expected to fall in love. </p><p>She had grown up with the expectations that a pureblood of her status was expected. From a young age, she was drilled with the idea that she needed to make friends with the other pureblood girls and uphold the family honour. She was expected to marry well and have at least one son. She was to be graceful and beautiful. Her life was planned out for her the moment she left her mother's womb and it was...</p><p>It was everything she never wanted. </p><p>The stifling rules, the perfection that was demanded from her at any given moment. Her emotionally distant father and manipulative mother. Bellatrix, who was just a little too free-spirited, had been beaten down and moulded into the perfect pureblood. She remembers, vaguely, a time where her sister wasn't as she was. Where she smiled and spoke her mind. </p><p>Any thoughts of rebellion left her mind when her sister was shuffled from the house kicking and screaming...and came back twitching from the Cruciatas curse and spouting the pureblood ideals of their forefathers. The Bellatrix who loved and cared for them was gone. And in her place was the mould her parents conformed her to. For the first time in all her eight years of life, Narcissa was scared of her parents. And from the grimace on Andromeda's fair face, she was too.</p><p>When she was ten, she was taken to her Aunt Cassiopeia's house for lessons on the dark arts and proper duelling. Despite never marrying or bearing children, Cassiopeia Black remains one of the most celebrated witches in the family for her prowess and duelling. Her great-aunt had crouched down before her and told her in the plainest of terms that," Whatever a Black wants, a Black gets." </p><p>Narcissa wanted many, many things and none of them involved her family's plans for her. She wanted to be free. She wanted to run around in the fields without care that her dress was ruined. She wanted to wear her hair down. She wanted to read books that didn't involve family history or pureblood etiquette. She wanted to be Cissa Black, a free witch and not Narcissa Black, a caged bird. </p><p>Narcissa wanted to be free.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>She never expected to fall in love with another witch, much less one tainted by foreign blood as her mother would screech. But it all changed when she met Eleanor Fryth on the train to Hogwarts. A friend that wasn't arranged by her mother. There was no need for fake simpering or political maneuvering with her.</p><p>It was friendship in its plainest terms and Narcissa relished in the simplicity of it all.</p><p>She had grown up hearing stories of Hogwarts. She was prepared from a young age for the backstabbing nature that many of her future housemates would have. For the frosty greetings, forced smile and cold eyes. It was like walking a minefield trying to get from the bathroom to your bed and even then you weren't safe. You were never safe when in Slytherin House.</p><p>Sweet, loving Eleanor was sorted in Hufflepuff and although her heart was pained with the loss of her first friend being in a different house, she realized it was better this way. Elenor would get eaten alive in Slytherin and Narcissa would do anything to protect her friend. </p><p>Already tense situations worsened as the self-styled dark lord continued to grow. Her oldest sister Bellatrix had immediately jumped the bandwagon when she heard of the Dark Lord's crusade against muggle-borns and blood-traitors. The growing string of murders littered the Daily Prophet every other week. She was content to ignore the murmurings and focus on her studies and Eleanor.</p><p>Narcissa would never admit to anyone that she had gotten caught up with the magic of Hogwarts and the pull Eleanor had on her. The stolen kisses and sneaking around with Eleanor under a starlight sky dominated her mind. Her ever-growing love for Eleanor was all she had paid attention to because for the first time in her life- Narcissa was getting what she wanted. She would ignore the discontent murmurs the other purebloods had and the rising threats because she had naively thought nothing could touch her while at Hogwarts.</p><p>It wasn't until Andromeda had a screaming match with their mother about her muggle-born lover, Ted Tonks, and how she was in love with him that she began to take notice again.</p><p>She had been in her room penning a letter to Eleanor when the screaming started and she flinched when the door slammed shut with a loud bang. Her older sister- the only one she had hoped would be there by her side if the truth ever came out, was blasted off the family tree the next day. Narcissa had never felt more alone than at that moment. She had never felt more vulnerable in her life and she hated it.</p><p>Looking over her shoulder and glancing each way as if ears were listening everywhere. Her home had become darker with her only ally gone and Narcissa, to this day, still has no idea how she ended up getting out unscathed. No, never unscathed. She could remember it like it was yesterday and every time she closed her eyes, Eleanor flashed through her mind.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was rare that they could go out with one another now.</p><p>They had resorted to sneaking around at night and having dates in the kitchens with the house-elves around them. Narcissa dared not to risk anything more. Not with the others snooping around. Hogsmeade was the only time Narcissa could run off with Eleanor away from the prying eyes.</p><p>(Rosmerta would not care what happened behind closed doors- there was a reason no one dared to attack her pub.)</p><p>Giggling, Narcissa led Eleanor up to steps to one of the rooms she had booked for the two of them. She tugs on her hand, ignoring her questioning sigh, and pulls her to the back of the building and down a hallway. Narcissa glances around them to make sure they weren't followed before opening the door and pulling Elenor in after her, firmly shutting it behind her.</p><p>"What are we doing here, Cissa?"</p><p>She whirls around and her breath catches when startlingly silver eyes pin her in place. She grins, a rush of exhilaration going through her, and places her hands at her lover's hips, tugging her forwards until they're flush against one another. "A kiss for the end of exams, perhaps?"</p><p>The confused look on Eleanor's face smooths out into a grin, "If I had known that Narcissa Black was such a sap, I may have-". Narcissa curls her arms around her waist and pecks her lover's lips lightly, "You would have what Ellie?" Her lips are curved into a teasing smile as she gazes at her girlfriend in adoration. There may have been a war brewing around them but as long as she was with her then things would be okay.</p><p>Narcissa brushed her thumb on her girlfriend's cheek, the rest of it leaning into her palm as she closed her eyes and breathed in. Eleanor pressed a kiss to the corner of her hand and slowly covered it with her own hand. Eleanor beamed up at her and Narcissa feels the air leave her lungs.</p><p>She knew she was in love with Elenor but it was moments like this that made it so very real for her. Her lips curved into a smile and then she was leaning down, capturing Elenor's lips and for a moment, she could forget about the war. Forget about the impending engagement her parents were forcing her in...forget about it all and just be in this moment with her. </p><p>It was everything and nothing and yet she can't seem to shake off the lightheadedness she gets whenever Eleanor does this to her. She was usually so focused but with her, she can't ever seem to think straight. Narcissa melts into her and she feels her smile against her lips and it feels like fireworks were exploding in the background. Her heart beats just a little bit faster and the butterflies she thought she had gotten rid of flutter in her chest.</p><p>Eleanor's fingers leave a tingling sensation on her skin and her palms burned against her cheeks. She surges forward, tightening her grip because she didn't want this to end. She didn't want any of it to end and she knew that once they broke apart, they wouldn't get to do this again anytime soon, if ever at all. The soft-touch of her lips left Narcissa reeling and she can't help the warmth the spreads through her whole body at her touches.</p><p>And just like that, as fast as it had begun, it was over.</p><p>Narcissa let out a small gasp as Eleanor smiled up at her adoringly, a teasing smirk working at her lips and it was always when Elanor looked at her like she hung the moon and stars just for her that she got ideas.</p><p>Sometimes she liked to believe they could run away together and as the days pass by her thoughts run rampant with the idea. The velvet box in her pocket burns in the back of her mind but she tells herself it's not the right time. She steadily ignores the voice in her head reminding her that it hasn't been the right time for six months now. Her hand grabs Elenors and she tightly squeezes, comforted when her lover squeezes back. </p><p>Everything was perfect and the idea is there before she can stop herself- her hand reaches for the box. She needs to do this. Narcissa pulls back from the kiss and opens her mouth to ask, it was on the tip of her tongue and she fingers the box in her pocket as she breathes deeply. She opens her eyes, a smile on her face and hand reaching for the pocket when she freezes at the sight behind Eleanor.</p><p>It's as if someone had doused cold water over her and she feels a sense of dread wash over her. Fear grips her heart and from behind her girlfriend, Bellatrix stands with a disapproving sneer on her face. Eleanor grips her hand tight and peers up at her with adoring silver eyes, worry clear in them.</p><p>"Cissa, what's wrong?" her lover's voice is soft and soothing but she can't move... she feels tears prick her eyes and she doesn't even realize her head is shaking until Eleanor grabs her head with her hands, forcing her to look at her. "Sweetheart, are you ok?"</p><p>Tears stream down her face and her sister glares, wand flicking from her holster and pointing it at Elenor. "Please...don't. Don't do it...please I beg of you."</p><p>Eleanor's face twisted from concern to confusion as Bellatrix waved her wand, "It's for your own good Cissy- <em>Avada Kedavra!</em>"</p><p>"BELLATRIX NO!"</p><p>Her hands were still wrapped around her waist as Elenor went slack in her arms and Narcissa fell to her knees, cradling her body in her arms. Her tears poured down her face as she stroked Eleanor's cheek and checks her pulse, hopelessly wishing that by some miracle Ellie was still alive. Would still be there to Narcissa to love and cherish. Her heart shatters in her chest as the heart beneath her fingers lays still.</p><p>Narcissa grips her body close to hers as she shakes, "No...Ellie...don't leave me...I love you please don't leave me." </p><p>A creak in the floorboards have her looking up into the cold face of her sister. She has always loved her family, no matter what any of them have done, but for that single shining moment, she hates her sister more than anything. The two of them are silent as Narcissa looks down at Ellie and she lovingly brushes a stray strand of hair away before speaking,"...why Bella?"</p><p>"She would have ruined everything for you! I was just doing what was best for the House of Blac-" Bellatrix's spiel is cut off by Narcissa's sob.</p><p>"I don't care Bellatrix! I couldn't care less about what you or mother wanted for me!" Her voice is cold and she looks up at her oldest sister with hatred in her eyes. Her sister takes a step back in shock before her features even out and a sneer marred her beautiful face. </p><p>"Get up Cissy!" she barks, twirling around for the door.</p><p>"I won't ever forgive you."</p><p>Bellatrix pauses as she reaches for the brass handle, "What was that?" </p><p>"I said," Narcissa's voice is steel even as her tears continue to fall in her grief," that I will never forgive you for this. I swear it on magic herself Bellatrix- I will never forgive you for taking her from me!"</p><p>The room is silent before Bellatrix responds, "I wasn't asking for it." A '<em>pop</em>' is all that heard as the older witch apparatus from the room without a glance back to her youngest sister.</p><p>Narcissa feels something break in her as sobs leave her mouth. Her hold tightens on Eleanor's body and she presses a kiss onto her girlfriend's temple before pressing their foreheads together. She knows her tears are falling onto Eleanor's face, staining her skin with Narcissa's grief. She looks so peaceful in death and her hand hesitantly closes her eyelids shut to avoid the glassy look in the eyes she had loved so much.</p><p>"I'm so sorry Ellie...please forgive me...I'm so sorry..."</p><p>Her hands reach for the ring in her pocket. With tears blurring her vision, she fumbles to get the box open. It slips from her grasp and rolls a few feet away, in front of the door and she can't. She can't leave Ellie. Not like this. She was so cold and she can't...she slammed her fist into the ground as sobs escaped her. There's a pounding in her head and the silence of the room began to hurt almost as much as the pounding in her head.</p><p>It's all she could hear. A silence that overtook her ears and filled her existence with a sense of nothingness. It permeated the room, taking up every single nook and cranny that it could find. </p><p>Then she heard it. It was faint but it was there.</p><p>It was getting louder.</p><p>The ringing.</p><p>It was like an explosion, one that went off in her ears over and over and over again and she closed her eyes in pain. It was getting to be too much. Flashes of memories, of events, of bright lights, of noises and people ran through her mind a million miles an hour. Faces, eyes brights and smiles wide as they flew through her mind. </p><p>It wouldn't stop. The ringing. Just kept getting louder and louder and louder until all she could hear was the silence. She felt dizzy and the pounding in her chest matched the ringing in her ears.</p><p>It was like a battering ram against her. Her vision went blurry and she snaps her eyes shut, willing the tears to subside and bends her head down as she tries to breathes. Tries to think but she can't. She can't because it's- it's too much! It's too much and it's not enough and it's everything in between and beyond. She tries to ground herself but it's getting harder and harder to breathe.</p><p>Nimble fingers curl around her shoulders and she tries to wrench away but they hold steady. "Oh, Narcissa..." </p><p>Despite herself, she leans back into the embrace and hands, bigger than her own and with callouses not yet formed, place something in her palm. She grabs Eleanor's hand and slips the ring onto her finger, sliding it snugly against her knuckles. Narcissa grips the hand tightly as she presses a kiss into her forehead. "I am so sorry Ellie... please forgive me, my love..."</p><p>An arm sneaks its way under Eleanor's waist and gently lifts her body to the bed in the corner. "I'll explain everything to the Aurors... just get some rest Narcissa. I'll make sure she gets a proper burial."</p><p>Her eyes find their way to Eleanors still face and she couldn't look away even if she wanted to. That was the witch who she was going to marry...she was going to finally be happy...and now it was all gone. All of it. No fairy tale ending for Narcissa Black and Eleanor Fryth. Absentmindedly, she nods as she leans into his embrace, "Thank you...for everything Lucius."</p><p>"Of course Narcissa... despite everything, she was never anything but kind to me, even when I never deserved it... she didn't...she didn't deserve this."</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>The young witch's body is brought down from the room, a crowd of students will watch with tears in their eyes as their peer's body passes them. One witch in particular, quickly identified as the sweetheart of Lucius Malfoy and a good friend of the deceased, will sob loudly at the sight. Although close with the deceased and involved with the main suspect, she is written off as an easily emotional witch who's just had her good friend die unexpectedly.</p><p>No one notices the spectre hanging behind the crying woman with an engagement ring on her finger.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>On June 24th, 1973, the body of Eleanor Fryth of the House of McKinnon is found in a room above the Three Broomsticks by Lucius Malfoy. Aurors swoop in on the young heir who, under careful investigation, is released after a few underhand bribes made from Abraxas Malfoy to the Minister of Magic.</p><p>The trail will grow cold within a week and a half of the murder due to the displacement of crucial evidence that disappeared shortly after a new hire causes a fire in the evidence room.</p><p>Within three months of Eleanor Fryth's murder, the case will be closed indefinitely.</p><p>The deceased's family, particularly, her grandfather - Lord Theophilus McKinnon - will spark outrage to the lack of progress being done in the case. The House of McKinnon will quickly rally the other houses behind the death of their own. He will soon be backed by the Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Black and Malfoy due to Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black's close relationship with the McKinnon Heiress. This pledge to House McKinnon will lead to most of the other Houses following suit for the disturbed and heinous murder of a pureblood heiress.</p><p>On September 1st, 1973, a little over three months after the murder of Eleanor Fryth, her ghost will appear at the Welcoming Feast unable to recollect the last few minutes of her life before her untimely death.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Did I make myself cry? Absolutely.</p><p>Did I make Lucius Malfoy somewhat redeemable? Yup. I always got the vibe that Narcissa and Lucius, whether or not they truly loved each other, we're good friends if only for their son. And I think that Lucius, being a good friend, would be Narcissa's beard throughout their years at Hogwarts until she and Eleanor could run away together as Andromeda and Ted did. </p><p>Why was Lucius cool with Eleanor? He respected her for making Narcissa happy and thus, had a grudging friendship with her. Typical Hufflepuff and Slytherin friendship between Eleanor and Lucius. Narcissa was whipped from day one and practically was in awe of Eleanor the whole time so he was there to make sure she didn't get hurt. </p><p>Will I continue this? Yes, I will. Might not be anytime soon but I will continue it. </p><p>Eleanor will actually come back as a ghost. She interacts with lots of different characters but mainly the Malfoy family. And yes, she will haunt Bellatrix's ass for murdering her and making Narcissa cry.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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